Tag Archives: the piper

Region : MidlothianLocation : EdinburghDetails : see scotland calling / geo.ed.ac.uk / ttourist-informationParanormal Phenomena : Edinburgh Castle has more than one ghost. The most famous is one of the piper, the pipes of whom are said to be heard emanating from the walls of the building. The piper is said to be that of a man sent down an underground tunnel, using the sound of his pipes it was thought it would be easy to follow the way of the tunnel. At the start, it was working well, but slowly, the music seemed to get more and more quiet and deeper under the ground, and finally disappear. Instead of going into the tunnel to see what happened to the piper, it is alleged that the tunnel was sealed and forgetten about. It is still alleged to hear the sound of the pipes deep inside the tunnel on the street level of the Royal Mile.
The second alleged apparition is of a drummer, some say headless, who has it seems appeared to visitors and inhabitants alike since the middle of the 17th century. His identity is lost – his appearance is taken as a harbinger of war. The sound of the drum is said to still disturb inhabitants during the night. The drummer was supposedly sighted as recently as 1960.

There is also a phantom piper playing on the battlements

There are alleged to be the spirits of French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War
There is said to be a ghost dog wandering in the grounds’ dog cemetery the dog has also been heard..

The wyrdology.com site records that “What makes the Edinburgh castle dungeons special is that the presence of ghosts – or at least the presence of something – has been proven scientifically. In 2001 a research project studied the reactions of people to various parts of the dungeons and surrounding areas. These visitors – who had no previous knowledge of the castle – “felt” something far more often in the areas with a reputation for being haunted than anywhere else.

Dr. Richard Wiseman who ran the project does not think this is evidence of ghosts. He believes it is evidence of some perceptual phenomena, possibly a result of lighting, that could be connected with many ghost sightings.